Perdoor, a small village about 20 km from Udupi, is keenly following Australia now. No, the reason is not Nathan Lyon and the Ashes, but the federal elections on September 7.
The Opposition Liberal Party has fielded Perdoor’s daughter Shilpa Hegde as its candidate from Wills in Melbourne.
An alumna of NMAM Institute of Technology, Nitte, Ms. Hegde (36) migrated to Melbourne in 2001, after her marriage to Dayanand Shetty. The mother of two boys — Nihal (10) and Sahil (8) — is an IT consultant for global company DWS. Her mother, Shashikala Hegde, said that Mr. Shetty was a member of the Liberal Party and was involved in politics. “Shilpa began accompanying Dayanand to these meetings and she, too, developed an interest in politics,” she said.
Ms. Hegde is a good orator and loves to be engaged in community work, said her father Mohandas Hegde. Her talent at communicating and mixing with people was noticed by the top leaders of the Liberal Party, who decided to field her as the candidate for the Wills constituency. “Getting a ticket is a big achievement, winning is a different matter,” he said. Ms. Hegde is still in touch with Perdoor and was in her home town in April. “She is expected to come again in December, perhaps, as an Australian MP,” said her mother.
